Today was a day where Augustin was just busy; a busyness that has been building for at least a week.  Most likely since the weather got cooler and time outside hasn't been as plentiful.  And this is nothing new for him either.

Augustin is Augustin, he's not at all like any of the other boys.  It started the day he was born....9 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches long with dark Italian skin, black hair and eyes almost as dark as his hair.  Where did he come from?  In a house with all pale blonde kids.  And he was solid not this small, skinny thing like his brothers.  He's been smooshy since the day he was born and I love it; he's fun to hold and snuggle.  So not only does he not look like the other boys, he's not built like them and his personality isn't the same either.  He didn't talk until he was over 2 years old, but he understood everything.  He would sit and watch...when he wasn't climbing something...just taking it all in.  Speaking of climbing...he's always been one to want to investigate everything.  I found him on the changing table before he was a year old, having scaled a chair, the computer desk, some how climbed over the filing cabinet and reached his destination....the top of the changing table.  I think the built-in shelves were next, but I found him before he tried scaling them.

He is the first to offer help (he doesn't always have the desire to finish helping), but he's right there to help you haul something, carry something, drag something, move something, build something.  You get the picture.  Always looking for a reason to do something physical and if it's heavy and requires tools, even better.  Lately he's been into crafts and school; something very surprising for my "never sit still" kid.  However, Augustin can't just cut paper and glue things, he has to put his own fun and unique twist on things.

At the end of last week he comes up to me and casually says, "I learned to use the stapler!!!"  Huge smile on his face and he shows me all these papers he can indeed stapled together.  And not a staple mark on the table or a staple in his finger.  I was impressed.  I shouldn't have been worried though because this is the kid who at the age of 4 years took it upon himself to change the batteries in a toy he wanted to play with (I wasn't quick enough I guess) and did it successfully.  He found the batteries and screw driver and did it all himself.  So the stapler discovery shouldn't have shocked me.

So he's been stapling paper ever since.  Yesterday he decided, on his own, to make Christmas decorations to hang around the house.  I found him in the office with glue sticks, scissors, the stapler and of course the hole punch, which I've learned he taught himself how to use.  So here he was cutting, gluing, stapling and of course hole punching decorations that he would make his own "hangers" for with from either yarn he's cut or pipe cleaners.  Busy, busy.  By himself, quiet and best of all...happy.

So today, I let the boys hang Christmas lights in their room.  Grant was in charge of making sure as few nails were put into the walls as possible (and as close to the ceiling as they could get).  Augustin comes to me with his hammer (he got it for Christmas last year) and tells me he's now hanging his decorations on the walls in the room.  This is where his independence and creativeness take a wrong turn.  So he showed me the hole...yes only one hole...he's made and I told him that he wasn't to hammer nails into the walls without asking first.  I was envisioning walls full of nails and holes as he tried to hang 50 decorations up.  Well, that didn't last long because he comes to me about 30 minutes later to tell me he'd hung a decoration (w/ the hammer and nail) above Grant's bed.  I don't think he could help himself, I really don't.  He did get in trouble and lost the hammer for the day and he was crushed; as in sobbing crushed.

He eventually got over it though and went on making decorations, crowns for me (and every other relative in the local area) to wear.  Crowns out of glittery, sparkly pipe cleaners. And then when he was tired of that (after about 4 hours) he decided to fix his little pretend bug catcher.  It lights up and plays bug sounds when the batteries work.  I didn't know it wasn't working; I figured it out only when I saw him replacing the batteries...screw driver and all.  That would have been fine because he's an expert now on replacing batteries.  I guess, however, that the light didn't work, so he took the entire bottom off of the toy and then took out the light and went into the basement looking for a light bulb that matched the one he had.  I can't say the kid isn't resourceful.  He finally asked my father for help and they fixed the light and everything.  A happy day....until bed time when I discovered he couldn't get the bottom back on the bug catcher.  I unfortunately couldn't either.  I'm hoping we can get it fixed in the morning or there will be tears.

I'm wondering what adventures tomorrow will bring...more cutting, gluing, stapling, hole punching I'm sure.  Hopefully no hammering or dismantling of electronic devices.  Brad has the day off tomorrow so maybe they can do something together to keep him busy.  He's busy and it's hard to keep ahead of him, but boy do I love him.

Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl

A year old already?  I can't believe it.  Time just keeps go faster and faster and this first year with Veronica is no exception.  After 13 years of boys, boys, boys, this first year with my first baby girl has been amazing.  When people would tell me that they hoped I would have a girl some day, I always smiled, but never really cared.  I love my boys and they are perfect. I saw no "need" for a girl and never really desired, hoped, wanted or felt the need to "try" for a girl.  Well, now that she's here, I wouldn't trade her for anything.  There are times when I catch my breath and wonder if I'm ready to raise a girl, but I know that God will give me the graces I need to raise her.

It took me a couple months for the idea of having a girl to sink in, but when she was finally here it was nothing but love at first site.  There really is something about having a daughter.  All the dreams and hopes, the wishes of sharing all those girl things with someone that you just don't share with your sons.  Tea parties, baby dolls and dress up come to mind first.  Maybe it's because I've had 5 boys before Veronica, but there really is something amazing that is hard to put into words.  It isn't that I love her more, but it's different and I can say now, I know why people always hoped I would have a  little girl.  It's more than the amazingly cute clothes (which there are a lot of) its something intangible.

So happy birthday to my sweet baby girl.  My life is forever changed now that you are here.  You have changed this entire house.  Your brothers dote over you, carry you around, bend over backwards to make you happy.  You want for nothing with them around.  I don't know who's more in love with you, me and Daddy, or your 5 adoring older brothers.  You have brought a love into their lives that they never knew before.  You smile and they melt, from Samuel (who says you are his "best buddy") to Grant who tells me he knows where all his money will be going.  I find them carrying you, spinning you, holding you, hugging you, playing with you, comforting you and just generally loving you.  I don't think any of us can imagine life without in it.  I know this next year is going to be just as amazing as the first.

And what entry would be complete without some pictures?  Definitely not a birthday entry.

It's virtually impossible to get a picture of Veronica alone.  I thought I was taking a picture of her eating breakfast and before I knew it, Augustin popped out.  He had been hiding behind the highchair waiting for his opportunity to get in on a picture.

Not walking yet, but definitely getting around

Wishing she could get over the gate to follow the boys upstairs

Calling the boys, hoping someone comes to get her so she can play too

Another picture with Augustin.  He really does love her

Happy Birthday, Samuel

It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since our "Samuel the Orange" came into our family.  He's "Samuel the Orange" because he insists his hair is orange, not red and will not let us call him "Red".  If we try we're told, "My name is Orange!"  I will be honest and say that I love his hair; I've always loved "orange" hair and I've hoped since Grant was born that we'd have one.  People always say that red heads are fiery and full of personality; I'm not sure if it's the hair or not, but Samuel definitely fits this.  Life for the past three years hasn't been dull by any stretch of the imagination.  Samuel is sweet and loveable, funny and silly, stubborn and independent...all within a matter of minutes some times.  Even with all of that personality, I wouldn't trade one bit of it for anything.  He brings so much life, energy and happiness to the family.

Mr. Personality!!!

Enjoying his "non-party" birthday cake.  He's very excited about his lady bug cake his Papa is making him

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet Samuel.  I can't wait to see what this next year holds for all of us.

Veronica and her baby

Veronica has one doll that she just loves; called "Baby".  She carries her around all the time, hugs her, kisses her and talks to her.  It is really sweet.  The other day she wouldn't put her down, but was hungry so she ate a snack with her. 

 

 

Matthias has decided after months and months of fighting me, that he wants to read.  He knows how to read, but generally dislikes it and if I tell him to find a book to read, he'll pick the easiest and shortest one and the one he's read a thousand times...because it's easy that way.  Even with all of this he reads well.  He's not extraordinary and well above "grade level" or anything, but he reads well.

So this week as we've been talking about Advent and Christmas, what they want to put on their lists, Matthias has decided that he wants to read the 39 Clues books.  Parker reads these and loves them, so of course Matthias wants to too.  I find him walking around reading Parker's books now.  We had to tell him today that he needed to make his bed, say his prayers and come to breakfast rather than read.  That's a first; he is definitely determined.

So at lunch today Matthias says, "There are only 5 weeks and 3 days until Christmas."  I was wondering how he knew this and why it was suddenly important information. I thought he was going to ask to put the tree up and start decorating or baking, but no that wasn't the reasons.  He says, "That means I only have 5 weeks and 3 days to learn to read really well so I can get those 39 Clues books."

I finally found my motivator to get him to read. It's taken me well over a year, but I've found it.

Parker and Samuel

I finally made it to have Parker's pictures taken; it's only been 18 months since I took him last.  I'm normally very good about this, but his summer was very busy and then school started and I just never made it to the mall to have them done.  So he was well over due.  I was going to take just Parker and spend time with him, but Samuel wanted to come and Parker said he thought we should bring him with us and have his 3 year pictures taken.  Such a wonderful brother to include Samuel.

There wasn't a bad picture in the whole bunch.  I was very happy and it made picking a couple very hard.  Parker picked his out on his own and he did a wonderful job.  Here is the one for the wall; he looks so grown-up

The grandparents are getting this one

And now Samuel...my almost 3 year old.  So grown-up all of a sudden.  He was perfect for pictures today.  Last year he clung to me and wouldn't let me more than 2 inches from him.  They actually cropped me out of some of the pictures.  This year, he was happy and excited and really was himself; full of personality.  I cut his hair this morning (again) and part of me is sad that there aren't any curls in these, but at the same time, he looks like a 3 year old with the shorter cut...and he's just as handsome.  This is for the wall, Parker helped pick it out.

The grandparents are getting this one...Mr. Personality himself here.  He loved this bench.

Close-ups of the calendar

I took a couple close-ups of the calendar so it was easier to see some of the blocks.
 
At the top (Thursday) you can see "Snickerdoodles" in orange, that is what we are baking.  On that day Augustin adds the ornament to the Jesse Tree and Parker gets to add to the Advent calendar.  On Wednesday the 7th, it is the feast of St. Ambrose (picture added) and we are baking thumbprint cookies.  Thursday, December 8th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and we are going to Mass that day.  You can sort of see December 9th, the feast of St. Juan Diego, we're baking pumpkin bread.

Another view, mostly of the 2nd week.  The 6th we are celebrating St. Nicholas' feast day, baking fudge, and at the bottom it shows Augustin and Parker have Jesse Tree and calendar for the day.

You can see here that on the 18th, we are having our big tree decorating day.  And then starting on Monday the 19th, Grant and Parker will start working on their ginger bread Nativity.

The Advent calendar is done

It's done...I think.  There are probably a couple more things I'll add, such as the picture for Christmas Eve that didn't print out well today.  I don't know if they are ever truly done as I tend to add throughout the season.  They boys have been watching me anxiously over the past few days, waiting for it to be done so we can hang it up...which I won't do until the first Sunday of Advent.  The suspense and anticipation of the whole thing...it's symbolic of the season of Advent, waiting in great anticipation for Christmas Day.

It's hard to see, but I have what we are baking in orange, who is decorating the Jesse Tree in red, who is adding to the Advent calendar (on the fridge) in green.  There are feast days with pictures on day where will will do something special.

Advent Plans 2011 - Part 2

The second part of my Advent Plans for the year.

December 6th - St Nicholas:  this is a favorite feast day for all of us.  On the 5th we'll watch the movie Nicholas, the Boy Who Became Santa and spend some time working on crafts.  The St. Nicholas Center has some great readings, crafts, recipies and other ideas.  There is so much stuff on this site, almost too much to sort through, but it is a site that is definitely worth spending some time looking through.  I may pick a few new things to do this year.  The kids will also leave their shoes on the steps the night of the 5th and St. Nicholas will fill them with an apple, an orange, a small statue and a couple family books about St. Nicholas or Christmas.

December 7th - St. Ambrose: a couple years ago we made beeswax ornaments.  They were fun to make. I'm going to get them out and we'll look into coloring/painting some of them.

December 8th - Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary:  We will go to Mass some time this day.  I've talked for years about making a Christ Candle and while I'm not sure we'll get it made this year either, it's something I would really like to do one of these years.  Catholic Culture has a great article on making a Christ Candle.  They also have a great resource page for all kinds of Advent and Christmas activities that would be worth spending time reading through.   We will make our gingersnaps today because in my reading  a few years ago I discovered that making ginger cookies or spice cookies is traditional on this day; they are traditionally mixed the day before and baked on the 8th to remind us of the passage in the Book of Sirach (24:20-21) that describes Mary smelling like spices. 

December 9th - St Juan Diego: Grant love Juan Diege so this will be a great feast day for him.  We'll have mexican food for dinner (tacos most likely since they are a favorite) and we'll make our Mexican Wedding Cake cookies.

December 12th - Our Lady Of Guadalupe: we'll celebrate by reading a story of Our Lady and seeing if we can find the CCC kids movie about this feast.  For dinner we'll have enchiladas and I found a Mexican Chocolate Cake that sounds wonderful.  Catholic Cuisine has some great recipe ideas.

December 24th - Christmas Eve: we'll finish up any baking, cooking and preparations we need to make.  We will go to Mass in the evening and the boys will probably participate in the Christmas Pageant.  After Mass we'll go to Brad's parents for dinner.  After the boys all go to bed Brad and I will fill their stockings in preparation for the next morning.

December 25th - Christmas Day: finally Christmas Day, we can all rejoice and celebrate.  The boys will get up and check out their stockings and then we'll have a nice and easy breakfast of orange juice and and sweet rolls.  The day will then be filled with quiet time at home with Christmas music, movies and gifts.

A year makes a big difference

I was going through old posts from last year looking for the Advent Plans I never put on paper and while doing that I found pictures of Veronica trying on last year's Christmas dress when she was 3 weeks old.  I loved that dress and she looked so tiny and cute. 

December 12, 2010


November 11, 2011